I will be staying 30 miles SE of Steamboat Springs for the entire month of June this year. All of my climbing in the past has been in late July or August, so I'm curious to receive any advice as to which 13ers and 14ers would be fun during the earlier part of the season. I'm looking for class 3 and below routes, and I'm hoping to climb around 9 14ers throughout the month (I train heavily to be properly conditioned). Also, do I need crampons or any sort of winter equipment? I would like to try out some winter techniques if possible. Thanks a ton. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

There will be a lot of people on the site better suited to answering your questions than I, but as to what hikes / climbs - you are closest to the Tenmile / Mosquito ranges (for 14ers) - nice, shorter 14er hikes. Check out Decalibron (Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross). It's an easy day to bag four fourtneeners if you haven't done it already. The Sawatch aren't too much further which are also all hikes class 2.

As for conditions in June, it all depends on snowpack which has yet to be decided. If it dumps all March and into April, there could be a lot of snow around in June like we saw in 2011. If it tapers off early, it could be very dry like last year.

Check back on snow conditions once we're well in to spring.

You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know. - Rene Daumal

As Teddy stated, the June hiking conditions are very much dependant upon how much snow we get in March and April. As of right now, it looks like the snowpack will be pretty shallow, but it's Colorado, things can change quickly.

Based on your location, your best bet for 14ers will be the Tenmile/Mosquito, Front, and Northern Sawatch ranges. These peaks include Grays/Torreys, Evans/Bierstadt, Quandary, Democrat/Cameron/Lincoln/Bross, Sherman, Mt of the Holy Cross, Massive, Elbert, La Plata.

If you are open to 13ers, most people rave about the Gore Range. The Tenmile range has some nice centennial 13ers as well.

“If you're bumming out, you're not gonna get to the top, so as long as we're up here we might as well make a point of grooving." -Scott Fischer